Le château de Meillant

Today I'm going south about 120 miles from Fontainebleau to the Château de Meillant, in France's old Berry Province. CHM and I stopped at Meillant to see the place in June 2009, on one of our day trips. It's just about 90 minutes from Saint-Aignan by car. The Château de Meillant was built as a medieval fortress and then transformed into a Renaissance residence. The family that lives there now has owned the château for 200 years and they give guided tours of the building (Covid19 permitting).

Fontainebleau — gardens, a parade, and some lions

All the photos in yesterday's post showed the main courtyard at Fontainebleau. Most of the photos in today's post show what you see on the other side of the main building with its horseshoe staircase — gardens and a huge plan d'eau (the "water feature" or artificial "lake" that Mary in Oregon mentioned in a comment yesterday), for example. I was there twice in two weeks' time back in September 2007 and took these photos. One time there was some kind of ceremony or re-enactment going on, as you see in pictures 1, 2, and 3 below. I don't remember exactly where the two lions were...

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Fontainebleau

“The Horseshoe Staircase was built at the request of Louis XIII between 1632 and 1634 and is credited to the architect Jean Androuet du Cerceau. With its atypical shape... [it] quickly became an architectural benchmark imitated throughout Europe. From the reign of Louis XIV onwards, the staircase was used as a grandiose backdrop to greet princesses arriving for marriage to a son of France (the Duchess of Burgundy in 1697, Marie Leszczynska in 1725, Helene of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1837). As the scene of Napoleon's famous farewell to his guard on 20th April 1814, the Horseshoe Staircase has gained legendary status and become emblematic of Fontainebleau.” That's a quote from the Château de Fontainebleau web site.

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The Château de Courances, near Fontainebleau

The town of Courances and its privately owned château are just 30 miles (50 km) north of Bellegarde, 30 miles south of Paris, and 10 miles west of Fontainebleau. The parc du château measures 75 hectares (185 acres). A manor house or château has stood here since before the year 1550. After being "modernized" in the 1600s and 1700s, it was abandoned for most of the 19th century. Before that time, in the 1770s, new windows had been cut into the walls at Courances to make it a more comfortable residence. Its current appearance dates back to the 1870s, when the brickwork of the exterior walls was exposed, revealing its Louis XIII style. The "horseshoe" staircase was added in the late 1800s and is modeled on the staircase at the château in Fontainebleau. These days, it is open to the public. Here's a link to the web site.

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